Gunshots, Car Chase Shake Up Melrose Neighborhood

MELROSE, MA — A Salem man is in custody after gunshots and a car chase cut through the morning drizzle of a quiet neighborhood Thursday.

Gregory Maitre, 25, faces charges after police said he nearly struck an officer with a getaway vehicle, causing the officer to fire his gun in self-defense. No one was struck by the bullets.

Police said it started with a break-in attempt around 9 a.m. at a Forest Street home. Maitre took off in a white sedan before police arrived, driving down Hopkins Street and onto Lebanon Street, where he swerved toward an oncoming cruiser before turning onto Sylvan Street, police said.

An officer working a detail on Sylvan tried to block the way with his personal vehicle. Police said Maitre nearly drove into the officer, who fired his gun three times before jumping out of the car's path.

Police found the sedan parked on Mount Vernon Avenue, where a K-9 unit helped track down Maitre.

Ian Epstein, who has lived on Mount Vernon for more than a decade, said he can't remember a scene like the one outside his home Thursday morning.

"For a couple moments it felt like we were on lockdown mode," he said.

Maitre is charged with assault to murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, as well as reckless and negligent driving, driving without a license, trespassing and breaking and entering.

Wakefield and Malden police as well as the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and National Park Service assisted in his capture.